Tutor Perini subsidiary Lunda Construction has landed a $60.2 million contract to update a section of a 113-year-old dam in Rothschild, Wisconsin.
The scope of the Rothschild Dam Modernization project includes replacing an outdated, 276-foot long timber dam with a concrete dam featuring cofferdams for river diversion, according to a Tutor Perini news release.
The original dam was built in 1912 to power the Rothschild Mill and channel pulp wood from upstream. Its construction, which spanned 663 feet across the Wisconsin River, created Lake Wausau, according to a project page from Montreal-based forestry products company Domtar, the dam’s owner. The company projects its total cost for the project to be $84 million.
The job also includes:
- Demolition of the existing timer dam structure.
- Installation of deep foundations for structural support.
- Placement of reinforced concrete.
- Construction of a new control building.
- Installation of a prefabricated bridge.
- Installation of new dam gates.
The timber section of the dam was last replaced in 1964, according to Domtar, with the Rothschild Mill investing $12 million in maintenance and repairs since then. But periodic repairs have been deemed no longer sufficient per the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The dam currently provides less than 10% of the mill’s total energy needs.
Lunda’s project win comes as aging dams across the U.S. have received increased scrutiny in recent years. A 2023 report from the Association of Dam Safety Officials found that it would cost nearly $158 billion to rehabilitate the nation’s 88,616 deficient, non-federal dams. Of that amount, more than $34 billion would be needed to remediate the most critical structures.
Meanwhile, dam failures in Michigan and at California’s Oroville Spillway have underscored the consequences of deferred maintenance.
Lunda began work on the Rothschild Dam Modernization project in July, and anticipates substantial completion by early 2029
